Gender roles and values of children: Childless Couples in East and West Germany

Educational field and fertility in western Germany: an analysis of women born between 1955 and 1959

“…The sample is restricted to women living in western Germany in the survey year of 2008. Women in eastern and western Germany differ with regard to their fertility behaviour (Kreyenfeld 2004;Henz 2008;Dorbritz 2008). Thus, ideally, the sample would have been restricted by residence prior to German reunification in 1990.…”

“…In addition to the educational system, family policy measures and dominant value orientations within a country have an impact on fertility behaviour (Henz 2008;Dorbritz 2008;Kravdal and Rindfuss 2008;Blossfeld and Huinink 1991;Hoem et al 2006a;Hoem et al 2006b;Kreyenfeld 2002;Gauthier 2007;Brewster and Rindfuss 2000). The most recent developments are not discussed here, since these (for example, the introduction of Elterngeld in 2007) occurred after women born between 1955 and 1959 had reached the end of their fertile years.…”

“…Having a child improved the chances of getting a home, while day care was available and affordable (Dorbritz 2008, 563). Under the political regime of the GDR, women were expected to participate in the labour market as well as to become mothers (Kreyenfeld 2004;Henz 2008). Thus, the institutional settings in the two parts of Germany were very different during the fertile years of the cohort under examination.…”

“…Long parental leave, on the other hand, has always been supported financially -with a guaranteed return to the previous job after up to three years 2 of a child's life. Traditionally, day care has mainly been provided by the Kindergarten, which is a preschool for children between the ages of three and six that usually offers instruction for four hours a day (Federkeil 1997, 90;Daly 2000, 81;Henz 2008Henz , 1456Dustmann and Schönberg 2012). Until very recently, day care for children under the age of three or of school age was in short supply 3 (Federkeil 1997, 90), which means that the cohort under examination was unable to benefit from developments of the last few years.…”

“…The institutional settings differed considerably -for example, with regard to career opportunities as well as the compatibility of employment and childcare -as did fertility behaviour in the two parts of Germany (Kreyenfeld 2004;Dorbritz 2008;Henz 2008). Moreover, because fertility behaviour has continued to differ between the two parts of the country since reunification, it is still common to study fertility patterns in eastern and western Germany separately (e.g.…”